It happened in the loss to Minnesota on Friday night in Oklahoma City. It happened in the loss last night in San Antonio. Subtle defensive aggressiveness by Russell Westbrook was the a deal breaker for the Thunder as the great one went for the glamorous steals in each game and that was all she wrote.
Friday night: Game tied at 93. The Thunder must make a stop as the Timberwolves throw in from the side on their end of the bench. Few seconds left in the game The Andrew Wiggins makes the drive to the right side of the floor, getting a double team as he gets into the paint. As he feels the double, he finds finds Ricky Rubio on the left side, in three point land, un-guarded. Russell Westbrook, on Wiggins drive, the culprit that left Rubio open, had drifted into the left side of the paint, a move that was not needed (Wiggins was already doubled down). Wiggins sees Rubio, makes the routine pass, and Rubio makes an uncontested three point shot. Westbrook’s breakdown on the most important play of the game gives the Timberwolves a three point lead with 0.2 showing on the clock. Thunder gets beat.
Saturday night: The Thunder has already choked away a fourth quarter lead of eight points and with the game tied, the Spurs exploit another Westbrook mistake. From NBC (http://nba.nbcsports.com/2016/03/13/watch-russell-westbrooks-gamble-that-helped-change-momentum-for-spurs-win/):
“It is tied 76-76 midway through the fourth quarter Sunday between Oklahoma City and San Antonio, and it was going to come down to smart plays and execution down the stretch.
San Antonio did that better and closed the game on a 17-9 stretch and got the win.
The momentum changed with this play — Russell Westbrook made a ridiculous gamble to go for a steal which left Danny Green wide open in the corner.
The Spurs never trailed after that point.
Westbrook admitted after the game that was a bad decision and said “that is my fault.”
Oklahoma City wants to win. But until they stop with the sophomoric mistakes (you can include Kevin Durant too), this team group doesn’t hunt. The fact Oklahoma City cannot consistently win right now is not difficult to understand. The Thunder have lost eight games since the All-Star break. OKC is not a bad team, far from it. But they have become a “head” team. They need to pull their head out and play smart basketball. The head case of the Thunder is in the court of Russell Westbrook.
I am getting feedback that anyone on the team can be to blame for losing. Also, that Russell is the greatest PG in the history of the game. I will not argue those opinions. The fact of the matter is that OKC will have to get Russell to play solid in the 4th quarter or it is just not happening in OKC, this year, next year or ever. Russell has to understand he is not on an island and cannot do it all. He just can’t. If you watched KD against the Spurs, except for his mistake in guarding Leonard when the score went to six in favor of the home team on Kwai’s three, he played a great game, not turning it over, making the right pass, and not hogging the ball. It will take the two headed monster for OKC to win big…right now, one head, Russell’s, is buried in the sand.